Coach Tee's Corner

  Over the last 15 years I have had the priviledge of working with many athletes, but soccer is one of the most intriguing of them all.  Why you ask?  Many soccer players I have worked with, especially youth, have said that there is little to no speed training involved with their organization.  If there is no speed training then that means there is no testing! One valuable tool when it comes to an athlete's performance at any level is baseline performance testing.  This assessment provides a snapshot of an athlete’s current abilities and offers numerous benefits that can lead to better training, and performance, and even help reduce injuries.  What Is a Baseline Athlete Performance Test? A baseline athlete performance test is an evaluation designed to measure an athlete’s physical and functional capabilities at a specific time. This test serves as a reference point or starting point for assessing an athlete’s performance and progress. It typically invo...

  As a sports performance specialist, I have covered a lot of sports that needed help with speed. In 2008, I had a hockey player come to me, it raised my eyebrow.  He was only 11 years old, tall and lanky.  The main thing his dad wanted was to work on his skate speed.  This was the first hockey player I ever had to train so obviously I wanted to do a great job.  I knew I had to work on his balance, and his strength, but how would I really make an impact on his speed?  And then it hit me, SPRINTING! The Art of Sprinting Many wouldn't think that land sprinting can help with skate speed, but I am here to tell you that it can.  Sprinting takes three things:  the ability to produce force, absorb force, and then immediately reproduce force.  Skating is a similar movement, and to increase speed you will definitely need those three things.  The second thing I noticed was the muscles involved.  The hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, quads, and...

Lacrosse is spreading like wildfire!  Over the last 10 years, I have seen lacrosse grow as fast as my 10-year-old.  One minute I had two lacrosse players, then in the blink of an eye I was training 40 players, 6 teams in 4 different states.  Wow!  As I have grown to love this sport, I have also watched these high school players put their heart and soul into it week in and week out, in hopes of announcing they are signing a letter of intent to a Divison I program.  But when the emails, calls, or offers, don't come in, what could have gone wrong?  I mean as a parent, you've spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on equipment, club team dues, gas, hotels, and training, in hopes your lacrosse player gets into college.  Where's the return on investment?   For the lacrosse athletes, it's heartbreaking to love something (lacrosse) so much, that it seems to not love you back.  So what's the problem?  I am going to explore what I believ...